Snow White #OnceUponNow

Chapter Five - Snow

Seven days of wandering doesn't do me any good.

My hair is a bird's nest and I'm running out of power. I haven't charged myself since I ran away. Nine days, four hours, and twenty one minutes, in fact. I'm dreading that I'll collapse in the middle of a street and Dr. Grimhilde will catch up to me. I can imagine it happening:

Me: Hello, do you know where the nearest power station is?

Stranger: Yes, just go along this street and—holy! Somebody! Call an ambulance!

Dr. Grimhilde: Oh, I'm a doctor! See? My name has the 'Dr.' title on it!

I'd rather it not happen.

I'm still in Dwarf City. I couldn't wrench myself away from here. I don't know why. Maybe it's the fact this place was the last place where I had contact with family? Or perhaps its comforting character had lulled me into staying.

However, if I want to remain talking and walking, I have to find some kind of power source that can support me. Sure, I could turn on the emergency supplies, but then I'd have no backup.

My internet search is off to conserve battery. I have to rely on luck to find a large, secluded power source.

Suddenly, I see it. The Dwarfs' Workshop. A workshop would have at least some power, right?

I stumble in there, not bothering to knock. The door was unlocked, strangely enough, but lucky for me. Nobody's in there. I guess my fortune is turning.

A newspaper titled 'July 4th Edition' is lying on some kind of moving machine. I brush aside the newspaper.

A large generator is clunking along, supposedly powering the whole room. It's rusted and old. It'll do.

I open a panel in my forearm and plug a wire into the generator. My vision, which had been slowly but surely dimming, instantly cranked up to the highest brightness, blinding me. I wince and blink out the black spots in my eyes.

Abruptly, I notice a strange bulk in the corner, covered by a heavy canvas. I unplug myself from the generator and slowly tread to the object. Something is motivating me to uncover it.

I grip the cloth's corner, hesitating for a moment, before ripping off the canvas in a flourish.

Some kind of frame sits there, filled with wires and a control system. I try to scan it, failing, obviously, since my internet search was down.

My ears alert me of at least three people behind me. I whip around, instinctively shutting my panel in my forearm.

Seven, wide-eyed men are standing at the door way, holding paper cups and a sandwich bag. The one holding the sandwich bag drops it.

I wave my fingers at them. "Hi?"

Then I keel over and faint.

~•~•~•~

"Hello? Miss? Are you all right?"

My eyes snap open. Backup power taking place. Find power source soon, my alert says. I'm laying on a sofa. A gentle hum of a fan fills the room.

A pointy face hovers over mine, nose looking abnormally large. The face backs away, and the nose seems to return to a reasonable size. "She's awake," the man shouts.

I twist my head around, taking in my surroundings. Where am I?

The Dwarves' Workshop, Dwarf City, my sources tell me. My eyes are drawn again to the generator.